A TEENAGER hospitalised two of his passengers just ten days after passing his test on an Awbridge road.

Connor Green drove like an "idiot" when he crashed his Ford Fusion into a tree at the junction of the B3084 with the A3057 to Lockerley Road.

Passengers inside the vehicle described how the 18-year-old "was bound to crash" after he sped along the road.

Two of his passengers were taken to hospital with fractured ribs and a broken finger.

Southampton Magistrates' Court heard that Green, of East Dean, and his four passengers were driving along the road at around 60mph.

Prosecutor Graham Heath told the court that although this was the speed limit a normal road user would slow down as they went around that patch of road.

He said: "He was a new driver and the prosecution say an inexperienced driver who probably did not have a great deal of skill.

"He was probably showing off to his friends."

Mr Heath added: "As a result of the accident the car was completely destroyed.

"His speed was inappropriate."

The court heard that as a result of the late afternoon crash on June 23, some of the car's occupants were taken to hospital.

One passenger said it was like Green was "driving at 100mph" and another said "at the speed he was going we knew we were going to crash".

Mr Heath also said that the occupants inside the car all tried to encourage Green to slow down.

Jane Joslin, mitigating, told the court that Green initially told officers that he tried to swerve past an animal he thought he saw on the road but later advised them he could not remember much from the crash.

She said: "He is remorseful for this accident and it has had a significant effect on this young man.

"He has been left suicidal as a result and his friends are no longer speaking to him. He has tried to apologise to them but he now just keeps himself to himself."

Ms Joslin added that Green knew the piece of road as he obtained his motorbike licence when he was 16-years-old and would regularly ride that route.

The court heard that Green now struggled to get to his job as a lifeguard at a nearby leisure.

In sentencing Green, magistrates said: "You were a new driver who was showing off to your friends and you were ignoring the warnings of the road.

"You were an idiot.

"You put the people in the car at risk and had a serious crash which caused injuries and thankfully nobody died because death by dangerous driving would have seen you go to custody for a very long time."

Green, of Glebe Meadow, East Dean, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.

He was disqualified from driving for two years and when his ban is up he must complete an extended retest.

Green was also ordered to pay £85 costs and £115 victim surcharge.